Stormy Weather
by Breath of the Machine
Summary: The possibility of a horrifying outcome. Yato is stressed about his father, Hiyori, the future. Yukine is having NONE OF THAT. / T because I like bad words. :D MANGA-BASED. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

_This story is manga-based, so if you haven't read it (which you SHOULD…) you may be a little lost. They're moving right along with it; I had to post this one before any of it becomes canon! XD_

_I don't own Noragami, but it owns me. No manga has ever had such a wonderfully iron grip on my heart._

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He was underground again. The same cavern where he'd fought and lost to that twisted mix of Hiyori and Sakura. Only this time, it was empty. No Izanami, no Bishamonten, no hole in the ceiling. Alone.

He was kneeling, cradling Hiyori's spirit form. Her eyes were bulging, and more eyes were appearing where they shouldn't be, her body slowly mutating as she mumbled "smells nice…" over and over. Claws dug into his body, and he was unsure whether she was trying to hold onto him or hurt him. He rocked her back and forth as purplish-black spread steadily across his face and arms.

"It's gonna be okay, Hiyori… it'll be okay…."

He knew it wouldn't. This was something he had been dreading almost since they'd met.

"Sever her ties." His father's voice bounced and echoed off the rock walls. "...Or don't. But I'd hate to see you have to cut down your _gii~iirlfriend_ again."

He said nothing. The sting from the contamination seemed far away. He was responsible- for all of this. He stroked the hair on top of Hiyori's head and planted a soft kiss there. Gently dislodging her painful grip, he slid her onto the ground.

He tightened his grip on the Sekki. "Yukine. I need you to sever Hiyori's ties to me."

_Yato…? _Yukine's hesitation echoed in his head.

"Do what I say!" he barked. "We don't have time!"

His expression was blank as he raised the sword above her head. He could feel Yukine wavering.

"Concentrate," he ordered. "Don't hurt her."

He swung the blade decisively.

Hiyori's form gave a shriek and vanished. Her spirit must have returned to wherever her sleeping body was, but Yato couldn't tear his eyes from that spot on the ground, the vision of what she'd become. What _he'd _done to her.

_YATO!_

He brought the Sekki up just in time to connect with the shakujo. His father leaped back, twirling the staff.

"Aww, your hafuri ruined the surprise. At least _one_ of you is giving Daddy attention!"

The man came at them unrelentingly, hacking with such speed that Yato barely had time to block, and twice didn't. Hairline cracks had formed on both pieces of the Sekki. Yato could tell Yukine was struggling.

"Your sword is failing. If you know what I mean!" his father cried joyfully. Yato imagined Hiiro's response of '_father, that's disgusting'. _Blocking another powerful blow earned him a solid _crack_ from the left blade. Yukine cried out inside his head and Yato fell to one knee. The attack came to a pause, Yato panting for breath as his father looked on boredly.

"It's ambitious of you, trying to kill of all your friends in one afternoon." The man scratched his back with the shakujo. "You know the deal. He doesn't have to die; I can be nice."

_I'm okay, _Yukine urged, but the boy was breathing more heavily than Yato was. An ugly-looking fracture ran diagonally across one blade- it wouldn't hold against even one more attack. The other wasn't faring much better.

His father's eyes were smiling, as if he already knew he'd won. And as Yato glared into them, he lowered the Sekki to his feet and rose shakily.

._..What are you doing? _Yukine sounded anxious.

"Sekki, revert."

The brief stream of light revealed the boy's physical state. Yukine sat, covered in scratches and still winded, his left leg very obviously broken. He looked warily at Yato, even as he carefully shifted his wounded leg. The young god watched him blankly.

"What-" Yukine started to ask.

Yato began writing in the air.

"You're not serious?! Yato!"

"Yukine, I hereby release you-"

"YATO, STOP! IF YOU DO THIS I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

"-of the name I have bestowed upon you."

The character on Yukine's collarbone seemed to lift from his skin, glowing a bright red. The next instant, the symbol shattered.

Yukine looked as though he'd been slapped, his mouth hanging open. Yato turned away, unable to maintain his gaze.

Yukine was livid. "You-"

"Whoa, hey, let's not fight~!" his father sang. Yato glanced up in time to see a different symbol glowing in front of the man. Yato's heart sank. Yukine shone ethereally, then the light flew to his father's hand, taking the form of a tall, unforgiving scythe.

"Oooooh, so shiny!" his father cooed gleefully. He gave the scythe a few experimental swings before taking notice of Yato's smoldering anger.

"Now, don't pout, Yaboku. Isn't it better this way? Your friends can all live happily ever after and we can all go back to how it used to be. It'll be fun! I may even let you use your hafuri again, if you're good."

Yato was silent. His stomach was a boiling pit, but the rest of him felt cold.

"…no? Bummer."

The scythe whistled as it cut through the air. Out of instinct, Yato thrust his arm in front of his face, hissing as the scythe sliced deeply into his skin.

His father hesitated, twisting his finger in his ear.

"Yaboku, do Daddy a favor and tell your hafuri to stop screaming at me."

He swung again; this time the metal thudded and bounced off his shoulder, bruising but not cutting. His father frowned, speaking to the scythe as he raised it above their heads.

"Listen, you little thug, I wouldn't dull down if I were you. You'll only make this slower for him."

The scythe fell.

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	2. Chapter 2

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Yato screamed. Suddenly everything was gone, the dank of the underground and the voices and shriek of metal. Instead there was only deafening silence. He was on the floor. Why? Oh. Kofuku's floor. Right. He looked around blearily as his brain tried to conform with reality. The pile of blankets next to him rustled.

"Was that you?" Yukine's voice croaked.

He winced. Shit. Had he actually yelled? At least Yukine was the only one he'd woken up.

"Yeah... sorry," he mumbled sheepishly.

"...You wa'a halk abou' id?" Yukine managed barely through yawn-speak.

"No, that's okay," Yato whispered quickly. "Go back to sleep."

"'Kay."

Within seconds, Yukine had fallen back into deep, pre-snore breaths.

/

Thankfully, Yukine seemed to have forgotten the outburst by morning.

Yato could deal with snarky comments and the inevitable _I'm-so-a-scurred-wehhh_ imitations that came packaged with Yukine, but if Hiyori heard, her eyebrows would do that furrowing thing and she'd pick at him in her concerned, subtle ways (like throwing things at his head or yelling, "Stop touching me!", because that was just Hiyori and that was how she showed she cared) until she'd practically _forced_ him to tell her every detail.

That could be a problem.

"Ne, ne~ Yatty-chan, was that you yelling last night?"

Kofuku watched him attentively from across the table as Daikoku cleared their breakfast dishes.

"Ah- yeah," he glanced to confirm Yukine was outside raking the yard. "I thought I saw a bug," he explained lamely.

"Ehh? But you're not afraid of spiders!"

"Well, it wasn't a spider."

"What was it?"

"Like… a… ladybug?"

They both stared at him.

"...A ladybug?"

"Yes."

Kofuku opened her mouth, closed it again, and turned to Daikoku, uncertain how to approach such a terrible lie. The man cleared his throat.

"Ah. Well. …It's normal for children to be frightened at night-"

"Why are you so worried?" Yato cut him off. "You're not my mother! Or are you suddenly a woman?! WELL I WON'T DATE YOU, BECAUSE HIYORI'S BOOBS ARE BIGGER!"

"YOU COULDN'T AFFORD TO DATE ME ANYWAY, YOU MOOCHING BUM!"

"Daikokuuu~! Put the table down!"

/

When Yukine asked Yato to help him bag leaves, the young god conveniently remembered he had someplace to be and disappeared. It was nearly sunset by the time he returned, bursting through the door.

"Look, Yukine! I bought us a TV! They sold it to me real cheap!"

Yukine could see why. The thing was more box than screen, with one broken channel button and no remote.

"AND they threw in two free movies!" Yato was overjoyed.

Yukine wrinkled his nose. "_Desperate Housewives_?"

"Yeah, but you missed the point- FREE!" Yato beamed.

/

Late that night (or rather, much too early that morning) Yukine awoke to the sound of clattering in the kitchen. He crawled out of bed and saw a dim light on. Yato sat at on the floor, pencil in hand, notebooks full of doodles and nonsense coating the table.

"…Are you gonna be out here all night?" Yukine squinted at one drawing, which seemed to be some version of Hiyori as a sexy librarian.

Yato snatched the paper from his hands. "Night's when I get my best brainstorms for advertising!"

"Whatever. You're just gonna get drunk and watch that gay show you got."

"Geh!"

Yukine ignored Yato's indignant defense and shuffled back to bed.

/

"So, hey. I know something's been bothering you."

Yukine brushed his shoes against the ground from where he sat on the edge of the porch. Next to him, Yato flipped through the classified ads of a newspaper and pretended he hadn't hear him. The next round of leaves were floating down in their ceaseless way, covering the discarded rake that lay a few feet from them.

"…Are you worried you're not gonna be able to change? Because I told you, I'm not gonna let you kill-"

"It's not that." Yato folded the paper. "Not really." He frowned, trying to choose his words carefully. Yukine watched a squirrel dart up a nearby tree.

Yato sighed. "What do you think would happen if… would it be better for you to work for someone else? Like Tenjin?"

Yukine stared at him.

Yato looked nervous.

Then Yukine grabbed the rake.

"THIS AGAIN?! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU _ARE_ GONNA SELL ME, AREN'T YOU?!"

"NOOO! I SWEAR THAT'S NOT IT! YOU'RE KILLING MY KIDNEY!"

"_GOOD_! MAYBE YOU'LL LEARN!"

When he had beaten the god to his satisfaction, Yukine exhaled forcefully. "Look, you're a project, I'm not gonna lie. But I'm not gonna give up just because you're a deadbeat who can't rub two cents together."

Yato coughed. "I think you broke my rib."

Yukine nudged him over with his foot.

"…I just…" guilt laced Yato's voice. "What if we come up against… something… and it's too strong?"

"So I'll protect your dumb ass. That's my job as a vessel."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Yukine raised an eyebrow.

"You're worried about _me _getting hurt? That's stupid." He poked the god in the side with the rake handle. "We're a team, and _you're_ the one who's useless on your own."

Yato snorted. They sat in silence until it was too dark to see the leaves fall.

/

The television was still on at three in the morning when Yukine wandered into the living room. He stood awkwardly in front of Yato, fidgeting with his pajamas.

"…Bad dream?" Yato asked.

Yukine shrugged sheepishly. Yato handed him a pillow and they sat, staring wordlessly at the screen. Yato wondered if, deep down, Yukine was more aware of the threats on the horizon than he let on. He was a kid, but he'd been through enough to know when trouble was coming, which meant Yato wasn't the only one losing sleep. He didn't know whether he should take comfort in that or not.

"…So what happened to the rich lady?" Yukine asked him.

"She faked the paternity test and her husband went to jail."

"I knew it!"

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_Something bad is always just around the corner with this manga._

(」˃̣̣̣̣̣̣ᗣ˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ )

_CONSTANTLY. GOING ON. A FEELS-TRIP._


End file.
